1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a rotary piston engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A piston for a rotary combustion engine is known from German Patent No. DE 37 28 943 C2 (U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 4,971,533). This piston rotates around an epitrochoidal orbit between the side housing plates and has sealing strips at the three tips by which it always remains in contact with the epitrochoidal orbit, where the piston is divided in a radial plane into two parts, and where means are provided so that these two parts can be pressed by their webs, which form the radially outer edges of the piston flanks, against the side housing plates, and so that an elastically deformable ring-shaped seal can be installed to seal off the gap between the two parts radially from the inside. These means consist of three guide pins, which are mounted with freedom to slide back and forth in sets of aligned bores with parallel axes passing through both parts of the piston. The pins therefore allow the force of a spring to push two parts outward against the side housing plates. The ring-shaped seal extends around the circumference and seals off the interior space of the piston against the combustion pressure.
Thus, the conventional piston is produced as a complicated one-piece casting and imposes very high standards on casting technology and, thus, leads to high cost.
A need, therefore, exists for a piston comprising several parts configured so as to alleviate the problems associated with the known prior art.